


On this the Day of my Mother’s death...

by Braxdovah



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, White Wolf
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braxdovah/pseuds/Braxdovah
Summary: Valerius and Angelo make Caspian an offer. - proxy scene write up





	On this the Day of my Mother’s death...

Caspian’s jaw ached dully from how hard he had been clenching his teeth during Angelo’s speeches. His own fangs had dug into his lip painfully, and he could taste some blood inside his mouth. But that didn't matter. It was taking a concerted effort not to burst into tears right there and then in the library, and he rushed out as fast as he could after. 

Outside. Fresh air. Hopefully no one would come looking for him in the garden, where he fell to his knees, breathing hard and throat tight as tears finally fell from his eyes

Stupid fucking human responses. He couldn't control them when his emotions were uncontrollable too. 

“God, fuck.” He sobbed to himself. “Ma, why… wasn't supposed to be this way….”

\----

Val watches the boy bolt and follows, silently using the secret paths thru House. He steps into the garden behind him. “You will want to keep moving to the back.” They are surrounded by bronze statues. The cane points towards a small wrought iron bench and table. 

\---

Caspian looks up and sees all the statues, visibly panics, and scrambles to the back table as if Valerius had held a lighter up under his nose. He keeps his distance from his uncle, cowering like he expects Val to go after him next.

“Jesus motherfucking CHRIST.”

\---

Val raises an eyebrow amused. “Caspian, I have no intention of beating you into torpor unless you start it. Sit, talk to me.” Valerius seats himself deliberately cornering Caspian among the magnolias and wisteria vine with him. 

\---

Caspian sits shakily down across from Valerius, trying to reel in his sobbing and tears, wiping his face quickly.

“T-talk about what?” He tried to bullshit with false innocence.

\--

“You love her. She betrayed you most of all. She knew you would protect her honor, you would defend her. My Valentina was the same way. She knew I wouldn’t tell her no.” Valerius speaks softly. There is no venom in his words, just the weight of truth.

\---

At that, Caspian’s tears are back, and he looks away from Valerius, not wanting to seem like an idiot. “I love her. I love—- loved her more than anything, and I thought she loved me too. She wouldn’t do this if she loved me. It can’t be true.” Another swear under his breath, and he hid his face in his hands.

\---

“I have known Angelo my entire life. I have seen him kill one of his ‘children’. She was not truly his. He would not have acted without knowing if it was true. If this was false, my Ferrucio would be in a box.” Val reaches out and gently strokes Caspian’s hair. 

\---

Caspian flinches when Val touched him, and his shoulders shake with quiet sobs for a few minutes before he musters the will to speak again. “She raised me, Val. I’ve never fuckin’ been without her…” A sniff. “My real parents are dead. Val’s gone. I got no siblings. What the fuck am I?”

\---

“A Spectre, Giovanni. Sure, you don’t think much but that wasn’t why you have survived. Loyalty, trust Angelo, trust the Family.” Val rubs the younger man’s neck slowly. “I know the feeling, but you have to keep moving.” 

\---

“Too sudden. I can’t…” Val’s soothing actions don’t go amiss, however, and his breathing seems to even out just a little more. “How long was this going on? How long was she lying to me?”

\---

“We had been trying to get her to stop being so erratic for a while. But, I can’t tell you. I don’t know Caspian. What I do know is this, you still have the line. She wasn’t why you were embraced. No one is going to hold the fact you loved her against you. You didn’t fuck up here.”   
\---

“I’m- I was in love with her.” He muttered in an undertone. “I fucked up. I could have done something. I should have found out. I should have tried to fix it. I should have talked to her. I should have-“

\---

Val growls softly, and pulls Caspian up to look at him. “No. She should have been and remained loyal. That was not your failing. What if you had found out, and couldn’t stop her? Would you have been willing to bring her to Angelo?” 

\---

Caspian doesn’t meet his eyes, stubbornly looking away. “I would have been able to stop her. I know I would have. If there’s one person she would listen to it’s me…” He remains quiet on the last part, however.

\---

“I was the one person my twin listened to and she still betrayed me and the Family. I have been in your place.” Val releases his grip on the boy. “If what she was doing was right, she would have told you.” 

\---  
A pale hand comes from the darkness and slithers over Valerius’ shoulder. Slowly, the form of the Specter coalesces from the shadows. 

“Love is a powerful emotion. It drives us to do many things. It can make us strong, feel invincible… It makes our existence bearable. Believe me. I know. But... “ His unblinking blue eyes glance at an ivory statue in the garden and his thoughts turn to Carmina for the briefest of moments before locking onto Caspian. “Sometimes, love blinds us from the truth.”

His tone is not as harsh as his speeches but there is an authority to the way he speaks weighted with an eerily heavy knowledge.

\---

Grief, shock and anger are still preventing Caspian from seeing things clearly; he jumps in surprise and edges back in his seat when Angelo appears, away from him. He trembles while listening to them talk, but still shakes his head.

“You can’t do that to someone you love… You should have told me. You should have. I didn’t want this, I can’t fucking do this.” A bubble of panic rises up inside of him again, and tears stream down his cheeks again.

\--

“What would you have done if I told you? Would you have tried to talk her back from her decisions? I tried that. Me. Her sire. Her uncle. She didn't listen. Would you have shown her the correct path? There's an entire line in this house that showed her by example. Instead, she showed that she's not willing to stand with us. She showed she's willing to make decisions that leave you feeling abandoned.”

He steps forward. “Look in my eyes, Caspian. You're not alone.” He offers him his hand, palm up.

\--

Caspian’s mouth opens as if he were going to say something, then closes. He’s tired as hell, still hadn’t eaten in days, emotionally distraught beyond all belief and most of all, still confused. “I don’t know.” He concludes weakly, still shaking. “I would have tried, though. I would have tried anything and everything.”

How could she abandon him? Why?

His electric blue eyes finally move away from the ground to look at his grandfather. After a moment, numbly, he nods and takes the offered hand.

“If there’s anything about me you don’t trust, I want you to question me now.”

\---

Valerius looks Caspian over. “All my concerns are what may have been done to you. You should be vetted just to avoid anything from being an issue later. My question is going to make you angry and if you lash out, that is expected.” Valerius lays his cane on the table. “Did she feed you her vitae?” 

\--

Surprisingly, Caspian didn’t seem too angry. It was a given. “She gave me my Proxy Kiss.” Caspian grunted. “Yes. I’ve always had a taste for her blood I can’t shake. But I haven’t been feeding from her uh… recently. She coulda made me die with her by bonding me fully to her before this shit happened. I’m not gonna lie, I’d have fucking agreed. But she didn’t do that.”

“She freely asked me to come with her, and to stay by her side, protecting her. And I did. ‘Cause that’s what you do for someone you love. I never questioned her.”

\---

He pulls Caspian closer to him as he reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a silver pin that looks like a fanged skull with tendrils of smoke wafting from it. 

“This is the symbol of my line. A coat of arms, of sorts. Wearing this makes you one of mine and denotes a level of loyalty that eclipses personal desire and surpassed that of other members of The Famiglia. Tell me you’re loyal to me, to us. In doing so, you will wear this with pride and be a part of something beyond the heights of what you thought you could achieve. She left you standing alone. We will never do that.”

\---

Caspian looks between Valerius and Angelo, then at the pin. He chews his lower lip nervously, playing with his lip piercing in thought before nodding, quickly wiping at his eyes. “I’m loyal. Nonno, zio. You’re- this line is all I’ve got.”

He takes a steadying breath. “Let me prove my loyalty. When you find the traitor, I’d kill them to protect you. Let me.”

He looks each of them in the eyes in turn, gritting his teeth, trying his best to not let his voice or his will waver. “I-I’m loyal. I’m loyal.” Almost like a self-reassurance.

\---

Valerius takes the pin and attaches it to his lapel with a nod. Stepping in closer, he kisses Caspian’s cheek. “I know. When we find the traitor, I would have you with me to deal with it. You need a drink?” 

\---

Caspian glances down at the pin, admiring it. “I do…” Now that he thought about it, fuck, he really needed a drink. “Thank you.” He mumbled, looking between the two of them, feeling rather… small.

“And I’m sorry.”

\--

“For what?”  
\--

Caspian sighs.

“For being a fucking dickwad. Crying all over the place.”

\---

“You are still in touch with your humanity. You did not understand everything that happened.” Val sits back down. 

\---

“I still want to see the… evidence. Later. I need some time.” Caspian sighs. “I just need… to think it through.”

\--

Valerius nods and motions for one of the ghostly staff to get Roman. “Tell him to bring drinks.” The ghoul joins them a bit later with a bottle and three glasses. 

\--

“When you are ready, We will sit down with Ferrucio and I’ll present all the evidence we’ve collected.”

\--

Caspian glances to Valerius again as the drinks are being poured. “She had me stay by her side in New Orleans. As much as possible. She told me to stay close to her and keep watch. She told me to come to Sioux Falls with her too.”

His mind wasn’t strong enough to piece the bits together until now. He glances to Angelo. “She said people were after us… I thought she meant the Ventrue…”

\--

“She was hoping to use you to protect herself. You are tough but we don’t leave things to chance often.” The ghoul steps away silently. “The Ventrue are a hollow threat. They will try but are not likely to get a powerful enough group to come after us in force. You saw how they slunk around like beaten dogs in New Orleans.” 

\--  
Caspian took a sip of his drink quietly, looking thoughtful. Something else was starting to stir amongst the confusion and despair. It was anger. Betrayal. The whole of him didn’t want to accept it. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t. But she did. She did, or else they would not be here. His brows furrowed into a frown.

“Fuck.”

\--

Val leans back, looking over the garden as he thinks. “Dedicate yourself to the line. You loved her but she used it against you. You see that now. Is there anything we should know about that seems off now?” 

\--

“Uh…” He rubbed his temples, trying to remember details. “I don’t know. She always tried to get me to stop talking to other people, ‘specially girls. I thought she was just being a mom. But she herded me away from the Malkavians like crazy. She got so pissed in New Orleans when I hung out with a couple of ‘em.”

\---

“Yes. I was informed of your antics with The Malkavians.” He stares at Caspian.

\--

“What antics?” Caspian snorts. “I was just hitting on a couple of ‘em. I was really bored and they’re really hot.”

\--

“Yes. Especially the redheaded Seneschals.. The very same Malkavian that Valentina threatened… I would be wary, my boy.”

\--

He raises an eyebrow. “The only one I really spent time with was the one called Ripley. And then another one with blonde pigtails, didn’t hear her name. Or I forgot. I was a lil high.”

\--

Val laughs softly. “And that is one more reason I stick to family. She was openly threatening Cammies? With everything going on?”   
\---

“Was she?” Caspian shrugs. “I was just bored. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I tried my best, but the family member who was actually getting me laid is apparently a traitor and fucked over now. Can’t blame a guy for tryin’.” There was a note of bitterness in his voice, but. “I get it. No Malkavians.”

\---

“You are a pretty boy. Getting laid won’t be hard.” 

\--

Caspian couldn't resist winking at Val. “Heh. Okay.” Thank god he dropped the ‘daddy” joke he'd have made at any other time.


End file.
